Although some students might accept unpaid summer work for school credit, university officials and students say such work could provide benefits money can’t buy.

A March 18 USA Today College opinion article said even though unpaid internships may provide sufficient experience for low-income students, they often cannot support themselves while completing one. Despite the negatives, several university staff members and students said unpaid internships can be valuable.

Matt Purdy, associate director of placement and services, said the disconnect between paid and unpaid internships often lies within the internship’s value. He said more desirable internships, such as sports and entertainment positions, tend to be unpaid. However, he said the university uses measures such as recruiter events and career fairs to obtain paid internships for students.

While the more desirable internships may be unpaid, Keri Burns, director of career services, does not agree there is an experience difference between paid and unpaid internships.

“The experience has the potential to be the same,” Burns said.  “It’s just what the student makes of it.”

Burns said students must search early to obtain their desired internship. Students often wait until the spring semester or a month before summer begins to start searching for one, she said.  This means the student is picking what’s left, she said, rather than choosing an internship that tailors students’ needs.

Even if a paid internship falls through, Burns said students can obtain alternative paid jobs. The Illinois Work Study Grant, which Burns said allows the university to reimburse local employers half the wages they would pay an intern, helps a student get hired and gives a company the opportunity to pay someone it might not have a full budget for.

Although paid internships can make the cost of living easier on students, unpaid internships can be more valuable, said Van Burnett, a graduate student in business administration from Peoria.

Burnett said he has worked an unpaid internship at a Peoria Caterpillar marketing agency as well as a paid internship as a Boy Scouts of America sales coordinator.  Despite his heavier responsibilities with the Boy Scouts, he said his unpaid internship was more valuable than the one he got paid for.

“It was a little bit tougher rolling out of bed to go to an unpaid internship, and the end of the week didn’t feel as nice when you got done,” he said. “But on the resume, I still put that one above my paid one.”

At his unpaid Caterpillar internship, Burnett started out performing odd jobs such as running errands and picking up print media, but toward the internship’s end he began attending high-level meetings with Manhattan Caterpillar representatives, he said.

Although Burnett said his unpaid internship was more valuable, Burns said cost of living can be an issue. She said some people depend on borrowing loans just as they would during the school year, while others have to find a part-time job to go with their part-time internship, she said.

Evan Noffke, a senior from Strasburg majoring in elementary education, said it would be difficult for students to work a part-time job alongside the internship.

“It seems like students would be stretching themselves so much to the point where they probably wouldn’t be getting the full benefit of the internship,” he said.